We love running, and we love tech

Monthly Archives: March 2013

Well the weather outside is frightful – with many races and meets being cancelled this weekend due to the snow and freezing temperatures. TR recommends staying in and keeping warm with these articles which will hopefully have you raring to go when the conditions improve!

High-tech marathon training kit – With just over a month to go before the London Marathon, entrants should be reading a peak of their training before the taper begins. MSN Tech offers some of the best technology gadgets and gizmos, from watches to headphones, to help the final stretch – our favourite is the FitBit One, which syncs with your smartphone or PC to act as a personal fitness assistant. (MSN Technology)

How to discover your true running potential – On a similar vein, the Guardian’s running blog offers this advice on how to discover your real running potential at the Asics Running Labs facility at the company’s flagship Oxford Street store. The project offers four methods of analysis; Physique (Leg alignment, foot shape, and body composition), Strength (Leg strength measurement), Form (Running form analysis) and Endurance (Aerobic endurance measurement) and a full explanation of where you can improve. (Guardian)

Top 10 tips for the London Marathon (or any marathon after that) – And in a further blast of London Marathon preview, the Metro offers up its top 10 tips for first-time and experienced runners from Lucozade Sport scientist Chris McManus, including advice on last-minute training, routine, and diet before the big day. (Metro)

Jogging Archbishop surprises media – And finally, proof that running really is the best kind of exercise, Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, surprised reporters and camera crews setting up to await his annunciation by jogging past them in, “a yellow lycra top and black leggings” at 6.30am this week. (Belfast Telegraph)

The world’s love affair with barefoot running shows little sign of abating, with Nike and New Balance this week announcing new shoe lines to try and grab a slice of the market dominated by Vibrams.

Both companies already have previous offerings in this market, with Nike’s existing free-running/parkour shoes being unveiled to great acclaim, and New Balance’s trail running shoes widely recognised as market leaders.

Adidas has this week unveiled a new cross category brand direction, which aims to celebrate the bonds between women and how they help to encourage each other.

Looking to boost the worldwide love of sport following a sensational 2012, the new campaign, entitled “all in for #mygirls”, uses social media to offer a platform for like-minded females all around the world to connect to each other to share their love of sport and motivate one other to achieve their goals.

The site itself resembles a Storify or Pinterest-esque layout, with new kit, inspirational videos and stories submitted by writers or bloggers. Top of the list at the moment are features on Brazilian divers, the Jordanian National Boxing Team, and Nigerian footballers, all of which are worth a look. You can sign up to receive regular updates and offer directly from the webpage.

An “all in for #mygirls” television commercial is set to air in Russia, Korea and China with TBWA, as well as a digital magazine on www.adidas.com/mygirls, with additional social media power on Twitter and Instagram.

This week’s Marie Claire featured an ambitious article entitled “The Nine Best Running Songs Ever”, picked by staff at the publication (although the article link awkwardly only includes eight songs…)

Now we at TR have a rather vested interest in music, with our own “Running Playlist” numbering over 1000 songs in order to ensure no kind of repetition. The list features a bit of everything – Rock, Rap, Indie, Pop, and even some Funk – it’s what keeps us going! With this in mind, we thought the readers of TR and Marie Claire could probably benefit from some better choices.

So with our alternative music hats on, we investigate and evaluate Marie Claire staff’s picks and come up with some other tunes we think you’d really much rather prefer…

New research from Brigham Young University over in the U.S. this week has suggested that barefoot running may surprisingly enough be bad for new runners.

The findings say that runners who make the switch from normal trainers to barefoot shoes too quickly suffered an increased risk of injury to bones in the foot, including possible stress fractures, with women far more susceptible than men.

Vibrams – more trouble than they’re worth?

Barefoot running has mushroomed in popularity over the last decade, helped in no small part by Christopher McDougall’s much-respected tome Born to Run, telling of his experience with a remote Mexican tribe who run only in basic sandals. Brands like Vibrams have done extremely well with lucrative shoes and other products, and the market has grown exponentially based on runner’s desires to experience new kinds of fitness.

The researchers say the findings are particularly concerning given that minimalist shoes such as these now make up 15 per cent of the running shoe market.

In the same Metro article as mentioned below, the Metro also has a short review of Adidas’ new running shoe line, the Boost (which you may remember us drooling over on its New York release a few weeks back).

There’s no doubt that these shoes are a beautiful piece of kit, and will definitely draw admiring and envious glances if you’re out running around the city or a popular park. They keep the classic Adidas “3 stripes” design which has been so so timeless for the brand, and then tops it off with its new foam technology on the sole.

Writing for the Metro, Vicki-Marie Cossar, herself an experienced runner and reviewer, seems impressed, praising the stability of the shoes, whilst also remarking on their flexibility. She takes them for a two-hour spin around a recently-snowed in New York and Central Park, and finds the whole running experience pretty positive, especially on hills, where she says that, “there’s no denying I feel more energised while running”.

Overall, Cossar’s glowing views back up our own fanboy raving, and we can’t wait to get our hands on them. Cossar states that, “I’m not a fast runner, and I’ve never done a marathon, but I manage a two-hour run around the city. I don’t feel tired and could easily continue. I had none of the usual aches and pains in my legs afterwards, which could be down to the good cushioning of the trainers. I’ll definitely wear them on future runs and am hopeful they might help me achieve my first half-marathon distance.”

A few weeks ago, The Guardian reported that Nike was facing some rather awkward difficulties relating to the sustainability and shelf-life of their products, and the company was now looking to repair their image and consumption statistics.

Fitting then, that this week saw the release of the company’s newest shoe offering, the ultra-minimalist Flyknit Lunar 1+. Apparently the result of four years hard R+D, Nike say that these shoes reflect what athletes really want from their footwear- “a snug and agile shoe that fits like a sock and is as light as a feather”. And they’re not far wrong there – a men’s size 10 apparently weighs just 8 oz!

The new super-lightweight Nike Flyknit Lunar 1+

First impressions are that the shoes do look great – you can almost see straight through them! Nike says that the shoes feature an upper part constructed entirely of a tightly woven polyester yarn that varies in density. This means that it is more open in targeted areas of your feet that may need greater flexibility or ventilation, and also tighter in areas that demand support.

Ten of the best running documentaries – It’s still getting dark early, so once you’ve finished your long run this weekend, why not put your feet up and relax with these inspirational classics? Our favourite is the incredible Dean Karnazes and his ultra-marathon feats. (Guardian)

8 Fantastic Fitness Apps to Keep You Motivated – We’ll be reviewing a few of these next week after we’ve had the weekend to play around with them – but here’s a quick overview of some of the best fitness and running apps out there at the moment! (Mashable)